Skittles Ups Internet Presence With Interactive Interweb

Skittles Ups the Ante With New Website

As the recession has affected consumer buying behaviors, the candy business is seeking to adapt. Mars-owned Skittles is no exception. In an attempt to reach out to the social media set, the fruity candy has completely rebranded its homepage.

Visitors to Skittles' main page are redirected to a search of the word "Skittles" on the microblogging service Twitter. The videos point to wacky Skittles commercials posted on YouTube; a "friends" section connects users to a fan page on social media giant Facebook; an image section leads to Skittles pictures on photo-sharing site Flickr; and those looking for information on Skittles products are connected to user-contributed online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

"Skittles lives in a world that is unexpected," said Carole Walker, VP of integrated marketing communications for Skittles. "We are leveraging what we think are the key consumer social media touch points."

The Skittles site requires users to enter their date of birth, as it doesn't advertise to users under the age of 12. Do you think this strategy to target older audiences will prove to be successful? Or is it too risky to depend on user-generated content? Does it change the way you view Skittles?

well in a time when the internet is a really important piece of marketing, this is a good thing for the brand i think. i feel like they've veered off path too much with all the different flavor groups and should just make things a bit more relevant to consumers. i hope that it helps their business